Grow U.S. Exports, Grow Jobs for Americans

Like many of you, I watched President Obama's recent State of the Union address.  And I was very pleased to hear about his goal of doubling U.S. exports of goods and services by 2014 to support two million jobs for Americans.

Trading Up

On April 2, world leaders of the G20 will meet in London for critical talks on the global economic crisis.  From my perspective, one of their key objectives should be to prevent new trade barriers from spreading like a virus around the world. In November, leaders of the G20 pledged to refrain from raising barriers to trade and investment for a year.  A few days later, however, they started backing away from their commitments.

Why Trade?

If you’re like me, you have a long shopping list this holiday season.  But have you ever stopped to think where the products you purchase come from? Chances are, those flowers you ordered online came from flower farms in Latin America.  The hand-crafted bracelet you bought in a department store could have come from Bali or even India. This is not just a sign of the times.  Over the past three centuries, the levels of access people have had to goods, services and even each other has risen dramatically.